


The Beach

by MageOfTheLufaines



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters: Ruby & Sapphire & Emerald | Pokemon Ruby Sapphire Emerald Versions
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Guilt, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-18
Updated: 2015-12-18
Packaged: 2018-05-07 10:29:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,237
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5453384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MageOfTheLufaines/pseuds/MageOfTheLufaines
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lilycove's beach became important to them, a chance for them to forget about the past and focus on the present.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Beach

The beach in Lilycove had soon become a familiar place for Maxie, going there most nights to sit on the sand and watch the waves crash into the shore (or when the tide was too high he’d sit by the lighthouse and watch from there). However, the reason it had become so familiar and, dare he say it, dear to him was completely unintentional and just an odd bit of fate.

He’d decided to make a stop at Lilycove to look through the department store, fighting the urge to find some way to get into the empty hideout where a small part of him hoped to find Archie. After awakening Kyogre and almost bringing such destruction to the world, Archie more than likely couldn’t handle the guilt and had just… fled. A small part of Maxie felt that he was partly to blame, too afraid to say that he’d have done the same. He tried not to show that Archie’s disappearance affected him greatly, but after a while the facade just faded away and when Courtney or Tabitha noticed him looking worried all they could do was try their hardest to console him.

Before he’d realised it, he’d walked away from the store and was headed to the beach. When he finally did notice, he decided to just get this urge over and done with. He’d look like was standing on the beach and watching the waves, nothing weird about that. It was a cold day anyway, so Lilycove was quiet despite being such a large tourist city.

That was to be the case until he saw someone sitting on the sand, knees drawn up to their chest as they stared out across the water. Their hair ruffled in the breeze coming from the shore, and Maxie felt his heart clench when he came to terms with who it was sitting there. He continued walking over, until he was standing next to them.

“You seem pretty interested with whatever is out there,” Maxie commented, watching as Archie flinched (had he been so lost in thought that he hadn’t heard Maxie approaching?) before turning to look up at him. He gave a small smile, strained and it didn’t reach his eyes like it used to.

“It’s a powerful and mysterious thing, the ocean…” Archie replied, letting Maxie sit down next to him. Maxie noticed the smile fall, and the last time he’d seen Archie so broken was back when…

_No. I can’t dwell on the past._

“Where have you been? I was-” he cut himself off, wondering if he could confess that he was worried about Archie, that he wanted to repair whatever rift had formed between them.

Archie ignored that and answered anyway. “I had to get away.”

Maxie didn’t know what to say so just nodded to show he understood. He knew it was selfish, but he wanted the Archie he’d been rivals with back, the Archie he still harboured feelings for even though it was stupid to continue pining for him.

“Why are you here?” Archie asked, giving him a look that Maxie could only describe as broken. He dragged his teeth against his bottom lip.

“I was going to look around the store. But then I….” But then he what? Had a small bead of hope that Archie would be in the hideout like old times?

“But then you thought I was in there didn’t you?” Archie responded, nodding towards the empty hideout.

“You always were good at knowing what I was thinking…”

“Had to be. You hardly voiced what you truly felt, and even now you’re still like that,” Archie commented. He looked like he was about to say more but shook his head and went back to staring at the ocean. Maxie pressed his lips together in a thin line, wanting to reach out and comfort Archie. Instead he chose to stay quiet.

After a while, Archie finally spoke up again.

“Do you think it’s judging me?”

Maxie looked confused before turning to look at the ocean. The very thing Archie adored, seemed to revere even, a powerful force that could destroy yet also create. The source of life. He knew, even Archie knew, that thinking the ocean was judging him was foolish, but right now Archie didn’t deserve Maxie’s harsh words and painful truth. He needed someone who understood his pain, and no one but Maxie could understand.

“No. The ocean has seen a lifetime of mistakes, some that have changed the world greatly. It’s seen generations fly past, histories come and go, and yet it still gives the world life. It takes when it needs to, but then most of nature does.”

He went quiet before looking at Archie, watching a tear roll down his cheek. “Archie? Are you okay?”

“I’m a fool Maxie, you were right…”

Maxie wouldn’t just stand there and watch Archie cry, not when he needed comfort the most. He moved himself closer and slowly pulled Archie down into a gentle embrace, pressing his nose into the top of his hair.

“I was wrong, Archie. I…. I would have done the same thing with Groudon. I shouldn’t have judged you, but I was afraid to realise the truth,” he told him quietly, feeling the man shudder in his arms.

“I-I shouldn’t have tried to-to…” Archie stammered on his words, choking back on tears.

“Archie, saying you shouldn’t have done this doesn’t change a thing. I know it’s going to be hard, but you’re going to have to accept that this happened.”

“I hurt my friends, my family. You.”

Maxie could only tighten his hold on the man until the shaking subsided and he was slowly pushed away. “I-I need to go…” Archie said, standing up abruptly. Maxie reached out and grabbed his hand, heart aching at the look he got.

“Don’t run away again… please…” Maxie pleaded, and he knew it was selfish, knew that it was wrong of him to want Archie here because he needed the man and still loved him. It didn’t stop him though.

Archie looked away, shrugging his hand off and for a split second Maxie feared the worst, feared he’d never see Archie again and live with the fact that the hole in his heart made for Archie would never be filled.

“This time next week,” was what Archie said before walking away.

***

Indeed they did meet up again the next week, in the same spot near the desolate hideout that was more than likely turning into another Sea Mauville. Maxie instantly noticed the change in Archie’s demeanour, the way he seemed more happier, even though there was still remnants of the pain he was feeling; pain that would stay with him for a long time. At least Archie was healing, accepting the fact that this was a mistake that would continue to haunt him.

He sat down next to him, drawing a knee up and resting his arm over it. “You look better,” he commented, because maybe Archie needed to know the change was becoming obvious.

“Good, because I didn’t get much sleep.”

Maxie frowned, knowing that he couldn’t judge because he used to rarely sleep when trying to find Groudon, thinking it as something that got in the way of vital work. Now though, he was starting to feel the effects of that lack of sleep, especially as he’d cut down on his coffee amounts.

“What happened?” Maxie asked, wondering if he should have asked, fearing Archie would walk away.

“Nightmares. I dream about the sea level rising and rising, my friends all struggling as Kyogre unleashes pure hell upon Hoenn.”

Maxie knew that nightmares were common with Archie. He often had vivid dreams which would get worse when he was worried about something, many a night he’d been woken up when they were still together to Archie thrashing and crying out in terror. He wished he could have been there to comfort him, not wanting him to deal with these dreams alone.

Slowly, Maxie reached out his other hand, surprised when he found Archie’s own being placed in it, giving it a gentle squeeze. He wanted Archie to know he cared, had always cared even when they had meant to hate one another.

“C-Can I confess something?” Archie asked partway into the silence that had settled between them.

“Go ahead.”

Archie turned to look at him, and Maxie realised he would always be hopelessly attracted to the man.

“I missed this. Being able to just talk and not care about the fact we were rivals. Being able to forget the past and focus on the present. I missed you.”

Maxie could only squeeze Archie’s hand, fighting the part of him that wanted to bring it up to his lips and kiss it gently.

“Then let’s start again. We may not have our teams anymore, but we can still have what we had before we became leaders,” Maxie decided, noticing the glimmer of hope in Archie’s eyes.

So they talked about anything and everything. They never once breached the subject of legendary Pokemon, not wishing to dwell on thoughts, instead discussing shared interests, the world around them, the scientific discoveries to do with Pokemon. One time Maxie cracked a truly terrible joke but Archie ended up laughing, and it wasn’t strained or unnatural, it was the pure genuine laugh, deep from his chest, that made Maxie laugh as well, both men sharing their joy to the world.

When it was time to go, it was to Archie’s smile reaching his eyes and a promise of meeting again.

***

These meetings on the beach became routine, a break from whatever lives they were now living to reminisce on the past that they wanted to talk about. Maxie never tired of the moments when Archie would go on and on, talking excitedly about a certain topic Maxie knew he was fond of. He let him have these moments, loving how his voice sounded, how the energy came back and the Archie he’d fallen in the love with would reveal itself.

Then there was the day where they breached the subject that they both were too hesitant to breach. Themselves.

Surprisingly it was Archie who started it, talking to Maxie about how sometimes he would think about what they had had before, what they had when they were rivals yet were too stubborn to acknowledge, and how he missed it. Maxie couldn’t just ignore this and pretend it never happened, so ended up agreeing with him, having missed the chemistry between them, as cliched as that phrase was. They had something between them that was starting to resurface, a feeling they knew well but couldn’t describe. It was akin to love but more, protection, comfort, caring… all those feelings wrapped into one.

“Maxie, I think I still love you…. No wait let me rephrase that,” Archie had suddenly said, putting his hand up to stop Maxie from interrupting. “I know for a fact I still love you and will always love you. Being your rival didn’t change that, in fact it made my feelings for you stronger.”

Maxie opened his mouth but he couldn’t form the words he so desperately wanted to say. He’d never stopped loving Archie, had looked forward to these moments because he still cared, because he wanted to help.

“Damn what am I thinking you’ve probably moved on now….” He muttered after a while, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Just forget I said anything and-”

“Archie that’s not-”

“I mean I understand, you always were better with moving on and you probably don’t want that and-”

“Archie for Arceus’ sake will you shut up?” Maxie snapped, before softening his voice when he got Archie’s attention. “Listen, I don’t know what’s going on in that smart head of yours but whatever it is it has to stop. I love you, have never stopped loving you all these years. I… I want to go back to what we had, and these moments with you made me realise that there’s still something between us that works.”

Archie stared at him for so long Maxie was starting to feel nervous. However soon he reached out and cupped his face with a calloused hand. Maxie smiled and reached up, rubbing his hand over Archie’s gently as Archie leant closer.

“M-May I?” Archie asked, breath ghosting against Maxie’s lips.

“You may.”

The kiss was slow, nervous, a chance to re-familiarise themselves with the body they once knew so well yet over time started to forget (though there were parts of Archie that Maxie couldn’t forget, had spent many a lonely night thinking about). Over time, they grew more confident, started to deepen the kiss and move even closer, Maxie’s other hand wandering down Archie’s arm, feeling the muscle tense slightly. He wrapped his fingers around his upper arm, squeezing gently as they kissed, as he felt all the desire he had for Archie come rushing back until it became too much to bear and he had to break the kiss.

The look Archie gave him broke what small amount of control Maxie had and he lunged at him, knocking the man onto his back before kissing him again, smiling and laughing against those lips he’d missed and craved all these years. They may have been lonely old men, but this was their chance to fix their mistakes: with each other and the world.


End file.
